One Paragraph At a Time

Andy has been hitting the writing hard lately. He wrote a whole paragraph, by himself, last week.

This may not seem like a huge thing when we are talking about a fifth grader. However, we are talking about a fifth grader with dysgraphia.

We learned a lot in the writing of that paragraph. It took the whole day to do it. We did the editing part the next day. This was just the writing part.

We learned that writing is absolutely exhausting for the Squirrel. He needs so many breaks to even get the words out there, that we lose the thoughts. He spent most of the time talking to me... and what he wrote was a pale shadow of a glimpse of all the ideas in there, but it was all he could manage.

We learned that he can be perfectly organized in his head, and the words come out almost at random onto the paper.

We learned that trying to come up with the words all by ourselves, instead of copywork after scribing, is what is exhausting. If we can copy the words, we do pretty well. If we are trying to think, organize, focus, sit, and get our fingers to comply all at the same time, we end up with a jumbled mess. And the handwriting is bad, too.

For those of you who know anything about my handwriting, you know how bad it had to be for me to say the handwriting was bad.

We learned we need to do something else, or writing is not happening. So we went out and bought a headset with a microphone. The project for the coming week? Write a paragraph. First, we are going to speak it- and see if we can get our first draft out into the computer a wee bit faster this time. Then we will focus our energy not on the getting the ideas out, but on the editing so others can enjoy those ideas, too.

Wish us luck.

Shades of Red and Green

Andy made that great milestone of growing up this year, the one parents both fear and love, a pivotal moment when the world shatters and comes back together in sparkling new facets.

Andy figured out Santa Claus.

Proud as a peacock, he strutted through shops with me, picking out presents for Joey, presents for Grandma, surprises and foods for Christmas morning. He understood perfectly that Joey still believes in his own way, and was careful not to spoil the magic. Yet he knew he was now in the Grown Up World, where he was, indeed, Santa Claus himself. He was in on the Big Secret.

One of the fun things about this moment is how much a child can learn in this epiphany, when he realizes that it is not just some Mysterious Stranger who brings joy and love into their lives in the magic of Christmas morning, but his own friends, family, and parents who embody that spirit of generosity, love, and wonder. To guide your child's step into the fun of the season with a real understanding of Santa Claus, into the wonder of believing and being that spirit, taking on the role for yourself- that is something to learn in making the world around you a better place.

We had been in Cicis, having lunch, taking a break of the bustle of Christmas preparations, when we decided to get Joey a 3DS XL for Christmas. They were on sale, and we had an extra coupon, and Grandma needed a big present for him. We could do it. Joey would love it. Andy's eyes sparkled and we pulled out my phone and checked to make sure we would get the best deal. He picked it out himself,  and proudly took it to the closet where I hide the other presents, to be wrapped as the Great Surprise for Christmas Morning. Yes, he was Santa Claus. He knew. He beamed with being so grown and part of the season.

Then I went out and bought another one, and wrapped both, and set them both with the stockings (which we open last).

Yes, there is nothing quite like a child who thinks he gets it, and then on Christmas morning, opens up a package and stares at it.

"This is Joey's," he frowned, a little disappointed.

"No it's not," we all chimed, pointing to the similar package in Joey's sock. He stared a moment, and then the understanding came.

Merry Christmas, little Squirrel. The beautiful, technicolor, dazzling, brilliant world. In this house, we believe in Santa Claus.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Voluntary

"What want to...? Of course! Sure!" I put my teeth back in my mouth, sat in my chair, and stared.

Andy asked if he could read the bedtime book tonight. He picked a chapter book. He read the entire first chapter, out loud. Himself. Alone. Voluntarily.

My son wants to read a book.

This may seem an odd thing to be jaw-dropping, when your child is ten years old, unless he is requesting to read War and Peace. Here, reading at home has been a never-ending struggle at pulling teeth, for both of my guys. Joey reads very well, and he will gladly read dictionaries all night long, but getting to voluntarily read anything else at home is Mission: Impossible. Andy loves books, but never likes reading them. It takes too much energy. He had a vision problem that stalled his reading with confidence. He is still shaky for ten, and I suspect there may be other issues. The book he picked is a Star Wars chapter book, geared to elementary readers, with large type.

But holy cow, people, he asked to read it. He read the whole first chapter. By himself.

A month ago, asking him to read a book might result in a sobbing, screaming child in a fetal position on the floor. Now he is asking to read a book!

I am so proud of my little squirrel.

Moving On Up

One of the great things I have found about this homeschooling thing? We can go at our own pace. If that's a slower pace, that's fine. If that's a faster pace, that's fine. It doesn't need to be steady- we can speed through the things Andy knows, slow down and take time with things he doesn't. Not feeling the learning love today? We can scrap the whole thing and try something else. As long as he keeps up with math and reading, as Virginia requires we either test those skills at the end of the year or come up with a portfolio, it's all good. We want to spend a lot of time on Colonial America? Why not? We have a lot of resources here for it. He needs more practice in multiplication, but knows his geometry terms pat? Well, let's allocate the time to what we need.

It's amazing.

When we started, I tried him in a fifth grade math workbook, and we had tears, screams, and gnashing of teeth. We scaled back a bit, then noticed we needed some other support. I put him on a computer site and had him work on that for a while to gauge where he was. The answer? End of third grade. Well, OK, then. I went out, got ourselves a fourth grade program, and started there.

As he has calmed down all-around, his math has also picked up. Multiplication remains a sticking point, as he needs to practice it. But once we plowed through and got him doing it correctly, we picked up steam.

We finished the fourth grade book today. I am totally proud of my little guy.

The plan is to focus on the multiplication and on programs such as Prodigy through the holidays, then start on the fifth grade program in January. I'm not expecting him to finish that in three months, but I think we will be fine. I may even work on some mathemagic with him, and help him understand what these skills really do.

Meanwhile, he is working on the Revolution, and reading Johnny Tremain. Oh, and we started earth science with minerals and the Moh's Scale. All in all, I don't think we are doing too badly.

Jamestown

 Jamestown, you lovely, lovely place. I think Andy cemented more learning in one day than we had been tossing at him for two months.

Though it probably helped that we had been talking about colonial life for two months before we went.

It was going to be the last lovely day for a while, so we picked up Grandma and headed down to stomp about Jamestown and see what we could learn from reconstruction. Andy was totally excited about the trip, and had a blast. He got my old phone to take with him to use as a camera, and initially took plenty of pictures- until he got distracted by the boats. Then he was too busy.

He loved the Indian village. They had plenty of folks out in costume (apparently this is a popular time of year for school groups to come), and most were super nice and patient, even as Andy had to pace. He liked taking a good look at the homes. He loves corn grinders, and spent a good deal of time grinding- good heavy work for the arms and joints.

The shelves and compact nature of the homes also interested him. He looked at the storage pots and scaffolded shelving a long time, running from house to house to see the different ways the homes were set up. I think he was getting ideas for his own room...

He liked all of the animal skins, and took a few photos of a wolf skin in one house.


 He was fascinated by the daily activities presented in the village. Along with the grinding, he discovered cooking, pottery, canoe-hollowing, making fishnets, basketry, sewing, and making leather. The hands-on learning approach at the site really held him. He wanted to dig at the canoe, scrape the hair off the deerskin leather, touch the bone sewing tools. He got into the ring of ancestor posts, and noted how each carving was actually unique. He ran in and out of houses, and picked one that was "his", because he liked the way the house was arranged and cozy. He asked questions. Why weren't the needles sharp? What were they made of? How long did it take to make a pot? Did they have guns? Who did the cooking? What were these things in the baskets to be cooked (he didn't recognize dried pumpkin)?

It was amazing.

In our little museum back home, there is a miniature reconstruction of these houses. He likes it, but was really impressed by the ones at Jamestown- full-scale, and varying sizes as family sizes varied. 

 The one he picked for himself was a smaller one, with lots of animal skins and a very warm-looking bed. He tried it out, and said it was totally comfy. He would run around the village, checking things out, then go back to his "home" to check it out some more.

I was thrilled to see him actually show interest in what was around him. Watching him dart about, checking it out, thinking it through, perhaps he has been putting more into that head than we have been giving him credit for. Moving through the world may just help him process all that information.

Next up was the boat dock. Andy was thrilled to be able to go all over the boats, climbing up and down between the decks and even finding other kids to pretend they were adventuring. 

We got to bring out Treasure Island into the discussion as well- these were, after all, the kinds of boats in the book. The Susan Constant was the biggest of the boats at Jamestown- and smaller than the Hispaniola described by Stevenson. 

The folks on the boats were very willing to talk about them, so again, Andy got to ask questions. He also got to listen to answers. In talking with him after we left the boats, I was impressed how much he had heard and retained, even when I thought he was just running about with his new little friends. 

He was interested in the different decks, and that the Susan Constant was four stories- the hold, the lower deck, the crew cabins, and then the upper decks. He bounded between the layers, checking everything out. 

 Of course, the canons were of interest. The boy has a major collection of Nerf artillery. He discovered that canons are heavy and hard to maneuver.

The cabins again held much interest, as they were compact spaces with comfy beds. 

Very comfy beds. 

Then I had to explain that he would likely have to share that bed with his brother, switching off every four hours (one working, one sleeping). He was't too keen about that. 

 The officer's quarters were more to his liking, where the captain has his own cabin, and the officers were given more space to gather. He was allowed to "steer" the ship by pushing and pulling on the rudder- more lovely heavy work, and he did that for a long time.

He also likely the galley. In Treasure Island, the galley is described as a larger space below deck; on the Susan Constant, it's basically a little room with a berth and a brick fireplace for cooking. Pots and pans are stored in ready reach. Some of the other visitors were shocked that there was a brick structure on a boat, and Andy thought some of their reactions were amusing.

The Godspeed had been at a tall ship show in Baltimore, and we got to see it come in and dock. Andy decided he liked the Godspeed best, even though we weren't allowed on it. There is something magical about watching a boat sail in (even when it is cheating and using engines). 

 We then wandered up to Fort James. Andy has been working on a model of a settlement, but we haven't been that successful. The Minecraft model idea that originally started us on this adventure hasn't gone so well. We are now thinking a 3-D model, working with materials and putting it together in a diorama, might be more effective. So it was important to wander about and look at the homes of the Englishmen, and discuss how the spaces were made and used, the furnishings, the set-up of the fort in general. We found the blacksmith, the gardens, the well, the armory.

One of the cool things Jamestown does is it sits armor here and there, and the kids can wear it in the fort. Andy was delighted to try on a breastplate and a helmet. In fact, he checked out all the sets, and found the helmet and plate he felt suited him best- then spent the entire fort time wearing them.

His helmet included a little slot for a plume. He liked that- he felt it made him a fancy officer, not just a foot soldier.

The blacksmith was grinding up clay to make a furnace. Andy, who loves grinding corn, decided grinding clay was pretty good, too, though a little hot when wearing a helmet. The clay was from a previous furnace, and will be used to line the new one.

We found rich people's beds to be comfy, though in the end, he actually preferred the straw mattress on the floor. He said he liked the beds in the boat the best. 

 We found the meeting house, and Andy thought the pulpit was awesome. He clambered up, and began a speech, encouraging his fellow colonists to join him in a fight against unfairness in taxation from England.

He spoke about taxation. He spoke about the Boston Tea Party. He talked about King George being unfair. He talked about how the "British" thought of the colonists as "different", even when the colonists thought of themselves as British citizens.

Not a bad speech by a ten-year-old.


He wasn't as held by the gun room as I thought he would be. I think he was getting tired by the time we arrived, and many of the weapons he had seen at the Renaissance Faire.

He started instead meandering about the settlement, as if on inspection, looking at the details of things- the different guns in the compound, the plants in the gardens, where the woodpile was, the different wells, the cooking fire, the blacksmith, the chickens.

 We have the museum a pass for the day. We will do that another day. You can't take pictures in there, anyway, so not very blog-friendly. Andy had plenty to think about all the same.

Instead, we wandered over to the original Jamestown site, so he could see it was farther out in the bogs.

Then we swung about and ran over to Williamsburg, to pick up some ginger cookies and give him some "coming attractions."


 I remain disappointed that they no longer make the cookies on-site. One of the wonders of Williamsburg was how many things they made, with master craftsmen, right there in Williamsburg. Now they are not only baked elsewhere, they are individually wrapped. Sure, they stay fresher. But the scent of ginger that makes Williamsburg awesome? Gone.

Gone also are the brass-smiths, the candlemakers, the American artists and their crafts. Williamsburg used to be a mark of American quality. Now, it's all crap made in China. I think economics is one of the things Andy and I will be discussing when we do a full Williamsburg day.

 While we were there, they did start a little show-activity, where some of the costumed folks got up and started acting out a call to join the Revolution at Yorktown.  I asked a very tired child if he was ready to go- but no, he wanted to stay and listen. So of course, I let him.

It helped that apparently Williamsburg is all but abandoned on Wednesdays after 4. Seriously. We saw all of a dozen tourist people, and most of those turned out to be there for the little show, which was part of a paid thing. The kids lined up to "join up."

Once the fancy speeches were done, however, so was Andy. We headed for home.

Never fear. We will be back. 

Working out the kinks

Our main challenge with Andy is working through the trauma left from school. Anything that looks like a test results in a huge panic attack and screaming shutdown. If he gets anything wrong, he freaks out. Even the fear of being wrong can trigger total melt. The pressure to be right, all the time, and test test test has totally crushed him.

We need to understand the risk it is to learn out loud, to learn on paper, to leave the proof that we did not know this, and open ourselves to the scorn of any witness. This can be harder with people you want to impress, to be perfect for, to have be proud of you and pleased with you, and think you smart. The shutdown we see is extreme, and we need to find answers.

For math practice, we have found Prodigy. Although we will continue to work through our workbook so I can instruct him, this game is fabulous for practice and clean-up. They have a parent side to see what he has done, where he is doing well and where he is struggling, etc. It works kind of like Pokemon, where you cast spells in little challenge battles, and you have to get the math right for the spells to work. Then you build up money you can spend on cool stuff for your character. Andy is totally hooked.

This week, we are going to experiment with some workbooks to go with our hands-on activities for history and science, wish more short reading passages for him. Getting my kids to read is like getting a stick from a beaver. A mean beaver. With a headache. And he really wants that stick. Keeping it short for now increases the chances of him 1. reading it and 2. not shutting down even looking at it. Joey could read War and Peace if you gave it to him one sentence per page. Andy is a little better. You can give him a paragraph- as long as you don't ask him any questions about it.

Right.

So bright workbooks with short reading passages, covering grade-level material. Let's see if that works for supporting the program. I'll keep you posted.